The Dispatch E-Edition

All current subscribers have full access to Digital D, which includes the E-Edition and
unlimited premium content on Dispatch.com, BuckeyeXtra.com, BlueJacketsXtra.com and
DispatchPolitics.com.
Subscribe
today!

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The fast, smooth new surface at Kansas Speedway had the potential to wreak
havoc on the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

The recent repave cluttered yesterday’s race with a record 14 cautions — a season high in the
Sprint Cup Series — and contributed to issues that affected at least four title contenders. But the
standings looked much the same when Matt Kenseth took the checkered flag in the Hollywood Casino
400 in a battered Ford that he banged hard into the wall midway through the race.

The win was Kenseth’s second in the past three races. Brad Keselowski, meanwhile, dodged
accident after accident to hang onto his narrow lead over Jimmie Johnson in the points standings
with four races remaining in the Chase.

“I was thinking, ‘Man, this has to be entertaining for everybody to watch,’ ” Kenseth said. “
There was a lot of wild stuff happening.”

That was an understatement considering the longest green-flag run was 35 laps early in the race.
Some of the cautions were caused by tire problems, others were for single-car spins, including
Chase drivers Johnson, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle.

“You know, everybody has been asking all season long where the cautions have been,” Keselowski
said. “Well, they flew to Kansas and they’ve been hanging out here because there was caution after
caution.”

Biffle’s spin ended his day with a hard crash into the wall. He dropped five spots in the
standings to 11th.

Johnson, who led 44 laps early and finished ninth, was far luckier.

He had pitted from the lead and was back in traffic when a caution came out, and he spun by
himself shortly after the restart. He, too, hit the wall on his spin, but crew chief Chad Knaus
called him to pit road to get a look at the car instead of conceding laps by going to the garage
for repairs.

Knaus then methodically dictated team orders, as Johnson stopped on pit road at least a
half-dozen times for repairs over two caution periods.

Keselowski, who finished eighth, came into the race with a seven-point lead and left with a
seven-point lead as the series heads to Martinsville Speedway this weekend.

Earnhardt should be back

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is expected back on the track this weekend at Martinsville.

Team owner Rick Hendrick said that Earnhardt has been headache-free for more than a week and
that tests by a specialist showed no lingering issues from two concussions that Earnhardt suffered
in a six-week span.

Earnhardt will get back into a car today and, if everything goes well, could be cleared to
drive.